Real Estate Agents Revolt Against REA, Homehound Responds with Capped Pricing Model and a Strong Industry Message

July 16, 2014 - As agents struggle to figure out their course of action amidst the turmoil caused by REA price hikes, old faithful portal Homehound emerges with the promise of innovation and a capped pricing model to boot.

"Homehound has been around for the last 10 years, supporting real estate agents with free listings. The market now wants more, and we are prepared to provide it" says Boris Gefter, newly appointed General Manager. Since the redesign and relaunch, Homehound has reported substantial organic traffic growth, and wants industry support to aggressively go to market.

Owned by IPMG, Homehound has a pedigree within publishing and marketing. First launched as a publication ad-on service for The Courier newspapers (previously owned by IPMG), Homehound remains one of the largest real estate portals in Australia.

Interestingly enough, with talk of agents creating a realestate.com.au alternative and REDMS, few know that Homehound was at one point, partially owned by several large real estate groups including Ray White Group, LJ Hooker, Raine & Horne and Century 21. Whether this historical relationship will help Homehound steal away market share, remains to be seen.

In recent days, Homehound has unveiled a fixed fee "gold package" which includes unlimited listings for $250 per office per month. Promising to deliver an incremental, and gradually expanding audience, only time will tell how much the Homehound offering will resonate with a disillusioned agent customer base.